Outsourcing

Recent columns, commentary and article comments on the current outsourcing debate in Costa Mesa have left out one key detail — the fact that the city has long considered contracting out city services (outsourcing) a "…viable, realistic alternative to providing … services with city staff. " The reality is that outsourcing is an established policy and practice in Costa Mesa. In fact, consideration of outsourcing is a required element of the annual budget process. Twelve years ago, the Costa Mesa City Council adopted Council Policy 100-6, effective May 17, 1999, because "...[t]

COSTA MESA — The city announced Thursday that it is formally exploring partnerships with Newport Beach and Huntington Beach to share multiple services. Costa Mesa is looking into sharing the SWAT team, emergency dispatch, animal control and other services, Costa Mesa city officials announced Thursday. Many of the ideas have been publicly discussed this year as possible options for the cash-strapped city. "The idea of sharing municipal services with our neighboring cities has been talked about for years, but with the recent fiscal challenges, it has been given added urgency," said city spokesman William Lobdell.

COSTA MESA — An injunction prohibiting the city from outsourcing employee-performed work to private companies will remain in place after the California Court of Appeal in Santa Ana on Thursday threw out the city's petition to have it lifted. The three-judge panel — consisting of Acting Presiding Justice William Rylaarsdam, and associate justices Richard Aronson and Raymond Ikola — dismissed Costa Mesa's 43-page petition for a writ of mandate. "Courts continue to reject any justification for the City Council majority's outsourcing scheme," Orange County Employees Assn.

At the injunction junction Wednesday afternoon, a judge found that stopping Costa Mesa's outsourcing was not her function. At least not yet. For the time being, Orange County Superior Court Judge Tam Nomoto Schumann has denied a request for a temporary court-ordered injunction blocking Costa Mesa's proposed layoffs of hundreds of city workers. Saying that the layoffs were still months away and that no one would be immediately affected, Schumann delayed issuing a decision on a court filing by Orange County's organized labor to stop Costa Mesa's outsourcing plans.

Given the opponents, maybe the event should include a referee and a bell for different rounds. On Friday afternoon, the League of Women Voters of Orange Coast will host a panel discussion at Coco's in Newport Beach. It features Costa Mesa city officials and Orange County organized labor representatives discussing Costa Mesa's city restructuring. On one side, Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer and Councilman Steve Mensinger will argue why the privatization of some city jobs is prudent and will strengthen the city's financial ground, which they say is perilously shaky.

Church should abide by 1984 agreement I'm a 25-year veteran of the St. Andrew's issue. My husband and I have lived in Newport Heights and have owned and operated an architectural firm for 30 years, also in Newport Heights. My perspective comes from both a concern about our neighborhood and an understanding of the city's due process. But, like the neighbors who have cried out publicly and in the local paper, I am deeply concerned. The proposal St Andrew's is making is too large for its suburban setting.

COSTA MESA - The city could save more than $600,000 a year by contracting with an international security firm to run its jail, according to a city staff report. G4S Secure Solutions was one of two organizations that responded to Costa Mesa's request for bids to staff and operate the city jail. Newport Beach also submitted a bid, but it only offered to house Costa Mesa's inmates at the Newport jail. G4S's bid suggested that it run the city jail for $364,640 annually - a fraction of the $1.3 million in annual costs the Costa Mesa Police Department personnel needs to operate it. However, the company would likely need twice as many people working in the jail than what the city had originally requested, so it would likely cost about $614,000, according to the staff report for Tuesday's City Council meeting.

COSTA MESA — About 213 Costa Mesa employees — nearly half of the city's workforce — can expect layoff notices on Thursday, officials said. More than 90 firefighters, 50 city maintenance workers, 30 dispatchers and a dozen city jail staff are among those being notified that their jobs will be outsourced in six months. "Basically, the morale is in an all-time bottom," said Helen Nenedal, president of the Costa Mesa City Employees Assn., which will bear the brunt of cuts.

SANTA ANA — Costa Mesa cannot lay off city employees by outsourcing their jobs to private companies until the city goes through proper legal steps, an Orange County Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday. FOR THE RECORD: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that layoffs could not be reinstated until a civil trial when they can be reinstated if an agreement is reached in earlier court proceedings. In a preliminary injunction barring the city from implementing its outsourcing plans, Judge Tam Nomoto Schumann demanded that Costa Mesa follow necessary steps if it plans to replace 213 employees with mostly private workers.

The hypocrisy that has become the hallmark of the Costa Mesa City Council majority was reinforced repeatedly at Tuesday's council meeting. While continuing to cry poor about the city's financial condition, the majority voted to authorize unlimited spending for two high-priced law firms in furtherance of its failed outsourcing scheme. Jones Day, the third firm retained to defend the city against a lawsuit filed by city employees, will charge $495 per hour while HansonBridgett from San Francisco will charge $295 to $325 per hour to advise the city's outsourcing agenda.